Dick Knipfing Does Not Need Two Stinking Sources

In a rush to be first, News 13 looked like jackasses, potentially horrifying the family of Joe Skeen. The thin line between dead and not dead was blurred on Tuesday, Dec. 2, when KRQE News 13 interrupted a movie to announce that former Congressman Joe Skeen had died. Not more than five minutes later, Dick Knipfing re-appeared on screen, but apparently his makeup person forgot to wipe the egg off his face, because Knipfing sheepishly announced that Skeen had, in fact, not died.

This week's Alibi outlines a scenario in which KRQE broke a story that turned out to be false because they didn't bother to, you know, make phone calls and check facts and stuff. In fact, Skeen died five days later, on December 7th.

Long-winded political gossip Joe Monahan has more breathless reportage on this incident on his blog, including this gem:

...knowing Knipfing's obsession with accuracy, you can assume he too is not a happy camper.

Obsession with accuracy, indeed.